The Aztec and Maya civilizations shared many things in common, including religion, social hierarchy and the use of "Calendar Rounds"-an intricate system of calendars used to mark their days.
Both calendars were created based on a number system using 20 instead of 10. Although the calendars were very similar, the Aztecs only used two calendars unlike the Mayans who used three, as well as never combining the two to create Long Count dates.
There were two calendars the Aztecs used - both focusing on seperate aspects of time, and each for a different purpose. The Solar Calendar (260 day cycle broken into 20 periods of 13 days) was used to determine the best ways to plant, harvest, build or go to war. The other calendar, Counting of Years (360 days divided into 18 periods of 20 days) was considered sacred. The five days left over were used for self-reflection, festivals and when human sacrifices were made. The days would only align every 52 years due to the different number of days in each calendar.
The Mayans used a complex system of three seperate calendars: the Tun-Uc, the Haab and the Tzolk'in. The Tun-Uc was the shortest, broken into four cycles of seven days and followed the simple cycle of the moon. The Haab, used for planting, harvesting and other important events, had 18 months of 20 days, including an additional month for the five 'extra days'. The 'evil' of these days was counteracted by rituals, festivals and sacrifices. The Tzolk'in was a sacred calendar, based on the movement of the Pleiades (a cluster of seven stars in the constellation of Taurus).
The 'Calendar Round', a combination of the Tzolk'in and the Haab, were used to produce a cycle of 18,980 days. From this combination, Long Count dates were calculated. Under this system, December 21, 2012 will mark the end of the Long Count cycle.
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